Page 48 of Sunsets at the Beach House

This time when she went back up, she heard the shower running.

She got everything out of the elevator and made another trip down. Three more trips and both cars were empty.

Trina was sweaty but felt good about getting it all done. Of course, there was now a mound of clothing-filled garbage bags on and in front of the couch in the reading nook. You couldn’t even see the couch really.

Bag by bag, she opened them up, figured out whose stuff it was, then took that bag into the right bedroom. She did her best to put the bags where they’d be out of the way. The ones with the hangers exposed were easier. Those she just hung up in the right closet.

About the time she was done, her mom emerged from her bedroom, looking fresh and in a much better mood. She was in cute denim shorts, a top printed with yellow flowers, and white wedge sandals. Her earrings were yellow hoops.

“You look cute, Ma.”

“Thanks, Trina.”

“What do you say we do your hair tomorrow? I have everything I need.”

“Are you sure?”

Trina nodded. “Why not? It’ll be fun.”

“Okay.” Her mom hooked her purse over her shoulder. “Thanks.”

“Sure. Go have fun.”

“I’m going to do my best.” Roxie hesitated. “What are you going to do? You did way too much work.”

Trina looked around. “You know, I think I might put a suit on and go jump in the pool.”

“That sounds nice. Maybe your grandmother will tell you what she’s been up to all day, if she ever gets home.”

“Hopefully. Unless she and Miguel ran off and eloped.”

Roxie laughed. “They better not have! We’ve got food and flowers and dresses.”

“If they did, we’ll just use all of that stuff to have a great reception.”

“Good thinking.”

Trina made shooing motions. “Go on. Go have fun with Ethan. Tell him I said hi.”

“I will. Thanks again.” She kissed Trina on the cheek as she went past.

Trina grinned and watched her go. Today had been hard, but hopefully, her mom’s evening would make up for that.

Meanwhile, floating around in the pool sounded like the perfect way to relax after all the work she’d done.

“Outstanding,” Jesse said through the intercom. “We’ve got the guitar tracks.”

Jules exhaled in relief. “That’s fantastic. I never thought we’d get that done today.”

“Neither did I,” Jesse said. “But you guys sounded great.”

“Cool,” Cash said. “That means you can concentrate on vocals, Mom. If you want. And Sierra and I can work on perfecting the backups.”

Jules shot her son a look. “Are you saying my voice needs work?”

He laughed. “No way, Mom. You sounded great. Hey, maybe we should run through Folsom Prison Blues a couple times, just to see how it feels.”

She nodded. “Probably not a bad idea.”

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